Call of Duty: Infinite Ops
Call of Duty: Infinite Ops is a first-person shooter developed by Infantry Interactive and published by Activision. It was released worldwide on November 10, 2017, for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One. It is the 14th main installment in the Call of Duty series. The game is a crossover between G.I. Joe, Transformers, My Little Pony and Littlest Pet Shop and a spin-off to 2015 s Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare. The game's campaign follows the superheroic Autobots of "Team Prime", the G.I. Joe Team, and "Alicorn" (winged unicorn) Twilight Sparkle and her five pony friends – collectively known as the "Mane 6" – as they get caught in a battle for the Solar System, which the Settlement Defense Enforcement Coalition (SDEC), a hostile force who are the main antagonists, are attempting to take over. The player takes control of Optimus, Duke, Rainbow Dash, Captain Joseph "Tonka Joe" Blackstone of the Space Combat Air Reconnaissance (SCAR) and his vehicle partner Axle. Development on the game began in 2013 after the release of Infantry's first title Call of Duty: Zero Day Battle. The original cast from the TV series Transformers: Prime and My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic reprised their roles along with Channing Tatum, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Gregg Berger and Judd Nelson. Stephen Amell, and Bruce Greenwood portray the lead protagonists while Richard Madden, and Anthony LaPaglia portray the lead antagonists. Infinite Ops announcement trailer was met with a mixed reception from game critics and journalists and a negative reception from the Call of Duty community. The announcement trailer was the second-most disliked video on YouTube at the time, in part due to disgruntled Call of Duty fans expressing frustration at the direction the series had taken. However, the game received postive reviews upon release. Critics praised the single-player campaign and it's greater player freedom approach in missions, the Extinction mode, the multidriver mode and the visuals and audio, while the multiplayer was criticized for rehashing of familiar concepts. Gameplay Similar to the previous games in the series, Infinite Ops is a first-person shooter. Campaign The campaign mode of the game is set in outer space. Similar gameplay mechanics from Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare such as such as zero-gravity environments, are included as well as a boost pack, and a grappling hook, which allow players to move in these zero-gravity environments easily. There are nine different playable characters in the campaign: Tonka Joe, Axle, Optimus Prime, Rainbow Dash, Twilight, Smokescreen, Cover Girl, Bumblebee, and Ace. Players gain access to Reyes, a central hub world. In Reyes, players can view their progression, and start main campaign missions, and secondary quests called "Ship Assaults". Joe also has a wrist computer, which allows him to hack into enemies' gadgets and machines such as robots. It can also be used to call in reinforcements at some campaign scenarios. Multiplayer Infinite Ops features returning mechanics from previous Infantry s title Call of Duty: Zero Day Battle which includes some maps that have areas that can be altered. Popular game modes such as Team Deathmatch, Domination and Hardpoint return and several fan-favorite modes, such as Demolition and Order Up. Multidriver Infantry Interactive's vehicle multiplayer mode Multidriver is featured in Infinite Ops. The mode focuses on players controling various vehicles with weapons. Infantry implemented a vehicle character system called "Vehicleians", where players can pick from 9 different vehicles, each with either a special alternate mode to them. Multidriver features a new XP progression system, which allows players to unlock items in a similar fashion to multiplayer and campaign. Extinction The game also features a cooperative multiplayer Extinction mode, which has its own gameplay mechanics and story, separate from the campaign. Like the campaign and multiplayer modes, Extinction retains the normal movement system. Plot Campaign Characters and setting Infinite Ops is set in the distant future after Earth undergos an event dubbed the "Phenomenon Enlargement" where it becomes the same size as Jupiter. Earth soon faces the possiblity of being stripped of its natural resources, prompting the nations of the world to unite and form the Titan Operational Nations Knight Alliance (TONKA), a political organization that handles matters related to trade, travel, land claims and all efforts relating to human space colonization. The residents of Earth rely on colonies established elsewhere in the Solar System in order to mine planets and asteroids for resources. The value of these outposts, however, attracts militant radicals who seek to control them; an action which could place the countries of Earth in a very unfavorable position. In response, the TONKA is defended by the Solar-System Associated Treaty (SSAT), a coordinated military structure that defends Earth and the TONKA's holdings. However, prior to the events of the game, a new hostile faction emerges, known as the Settlement Defense Enforcement Coalition (SDEC), which consists of insurgents that broke away from the Titan Operational Nations Knight Alliance during a war of secession. The campaign follows the superheroic Autobots of "Team Prime", which consists of Optimus Prime (Peter Cullen), Ratchet (Jeffrey Combs), Arcee (Sumalee Montano), Bumblebee, Smokescreen (Nolan North), Bulkhead (Kevin Michael Richardson), Ultra Magnus (Michael Ironside), Rodimus (Judd Nelson), Grimlock (Gregg Berger), Elita One (Emily Wickersham), Wheeljack (James Horan) and Cliffjumper (Billy Brown), and the G.I. Joe Team which consists of Duke (Channing Tatum), Roadblock (Dwayne Johnson), Ripcord (Marlon Wayans), Scarlett (Rebecca Ferguson), Ace (Alistair Abell), Flint (D.J. Cotrona), Lady Jaye (Angela Sarafyan), Heavy Duty (Dennis Haysbert), Hawk (Dennis Quaid), Cover Girl (Angie Stevenson), Wild Bill (Max Martini), General Joseph Colton (Lance Henriksen), and Snake Eyes, as they are at war with both the villainous Decepticons and their leader Megatron (Frank Welker) and the terrorist group Cobra and it's leader Cobra Commander (Joseph Gordon-Levitt). During the first point of the campaign, the present year universe, the Autobots and G.I. Joe Team along with the Decepticons and Cobra get sucked up through a mysterious purple portal which brings them to the land of Equestria, a planet populated by varieties of anthropomorphic ponies including variants of Pegasus and unicorn, along with other sentient and non-sentient creatures. From there, they form friendships with "alicorn" (winged unicorn) Twilight Sparkle (Tara Strong), her baby dragon assistant Spike (Cathy Weseluck), and her friends in Ponyville, colloquially referred to as the "Mane Six": Rainbow Dash (Ashleigh Ball), a tomboyish pegasus pony who helps control the weather, and aspires to be a part of Equestria's famous flying team, the Wonderbolts; Rarity (Tabitha St. Germain), a glamorous unicorn with a flair for fashion design; Fluttershy (Andrea Libman), a shy and timid pegasus pony who is fond of nature and takes care of animals; Pinkie Pie (Libman), a hyperactive pony who loves throwing parties; and Applejack (Ball), a hard-working pony who works on her family's apple farm. As part of the TONKA Warship Reyes, Lieutenant Joseph "Tonka Joe" Blackstone (Stephen Amell), a Tier 1 Special Operations pilot of the Space Combat Air Reconnaissance (SCAR), and his vehiclian partner Axle (Bruce Greenwood) are tasked to lead a crew to defeat the Settlement Defense Enforement Coalition on Earth, as well as journey to outer space and across other planets in the system to stop the Front Coalition from taking over the entire Solar System. Joe and Axle are assisted by Joe's human allies; his mentor Admiral Chad Vance (Rocky Carroll), Joe's wingman Lieutenant Rosita "Rose Montana" Cayla (Lauren Compton), his robot sidekick D3R "Derek" (Rob Kerkovich), and the SATO Marines including Master Sergeant Alex Swift (Anthony Mackie), Lance Corporal Anthony "Crash Test" Nixon (Chris O'Donnell), Corporal Dustin "Dirk" Lyon (Alex O'Loughlin), Private Kathy "Harper" Ducan (Shay Mitchell), and Axle's Vehiclian allies; Medical Officer Wrench (Richard McGonagle), Westbrook (Michael J. Fox), Scout Bolt (Shawn Ashmore), Fins (Peter Facinelli), Rally (David Boreanaz), Ambershy (Jessica Lowndes), Dunes (Neil Brown Jr.), N8N "Nathan" (Jeffrey Nordling), Trapper (Trevor Donovan), Hetty (Linda Hunt), and Windspeed (Gunner Wright). Returning characters from Transformers: Prime include Jack Darby (Josh Keaton), his mother, nurse June Darby (Markie Post), Japanese transfer student Miko Nakadai (Tania Gunadi), computer prodigy Rafael Esquivel (Andy Pessoa) and American government agent William Fowler (Ernie Hudson), while returning characters from My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic are the two alicorns ruling over Equestria, Twilight's mentor Princess Celestia (Nicole Oliver), and the younger Princess Luna (St. Germain), alicorn Princess Cadance (Britt McKillip) and her husband and Twilight's older brother Shining Armor (Andrew Francis), Starlight Glimmer (Kelly Sheridan), and the Cutie Mark Crusaders, consisting of Applejack's younger sister Apple Bloom (Michelle Creber), Rarity's younger sister Sweetie Belle (Claire Corlett), and Scootaloo (Madeleine Peters). Facing the Autobots, G.I. Joe Team, Tonka Joe, Axle and their allies in battle alongside the Decepticons and Cobra are the commander of the starship Olympus Mons and co-leader of the SDEC, Rear Admiral James Hackett (Richard Madden) and leader of the Vehiclian Exodus Coalition Rourke (Anthony LaPaglia). The members of the Decepticon rank include Megatron's second in command Dreadwing (Tony Todd), Starscream (Steven Blum), scientist Shockwave (David Sobolov), surveillance chief Soundwave, Blitzwing (Matthew Gray Gubler), Decepticon medic Knock Out (Daran Norris), his partner Breakdown (Adam Baldwin) and Airachnid (voiced by Gina Torres). The followers under the Cobra ranks are Destro (Clancy Brown), Baroness (Taylor Cole), Doctor Mindbender (Charlie Schlatter), Zartan (Brian Bloom), and Storm Shadow (Andrew Kishino). Hackett and Rourke's allies include Hackett's senior commander Nike McGrath (Michael Benyaer), Rourke's second in command Starblade (Eric Close), Dreadlock (Laurence Fishburne), and Hip-Rock (J.B. Smoove) and Pop-Ready (Fred Tatasciore). Story The game begins on a distant planet called Vehicletron, the Vehicle Resistance led by Axle attempt to leave their dying homeworld on the VR ship the Zeus. On their journey, the Exodus Coaltion led by Rourke attack. Axle engages Rourke directly on the outer surface of the Z''eus''. Bolt, the young scout, dives in front of the fatal blow, saving Axle. The two rival leaders engage in a battle to death. The victor of the battle depends on the player's choice to play as either Axle or Rourke, but before the final blow can be dealt both Axle and Rourke are pulled off of the hull of the Zeus and into the portal with both ships. The portal finally closes, leaving Vehicletron a deserted ruin. In the distant future, after the Phenomenon Enlarge and the Titan Opertional Nations Knight Alliance and the Settlement Defense Enforcement Coalition are formed, A TONKA special forces team is sent to a secret TONKA weapons research facility on Callisto to investigate a SDEC attack and recover a prototype weapon before initiating the facility's self-destruct. The team is able to destroy the facility, but fails to recover the weapon and are captured by the SDEC, where they are subsequently executed by Rourke. On Earth, Tonka Joe and Axle warn Admiral Vance that the SDEC attack is tantamount to a declaration of war and that the TONKA should be preparing a counterattack. However, Admiral Vance explains that the TONKA's leaders do not want to escalate the situation, especially during the Fleet Week celebrations where the entire TONKA fleet gathers at New Orleans. During the celebrations, they link up with his wingman Rose Montana. Extinction Characters The Extinction story takes place in an alternate reality after astronaut scientists uncover ancient creatures known as Cryptids. Players control Little Bear from the Little Bear series, and Logan Walker. Returning characters from Zero Day Battle are: Doctor Samantha Cross (Ali Hillis), a researcher of the Nightfall Program who was studying Cryptid origins; and Captain David Archer (Dave B. Mitchell), leader of the Nightfall Program. Story In 2061, astronaut scientists on Jupiter's moon Titan discover a hive nest of Cryptids. The group hurries to warn Earth of the oncoming threat, but are killed by the Queen. The Cryptids then launch an invasion to Earth. Development Infinite Ops is the second main Call of Duty game developed by Infantry Interactive. Development for the game dates as far back as 2013 after the release of Call of Duty: Zero Day Battle. According to Infantry, the development team added lots of new ideas to the game, and put emphasis on the game's storytelling. To help with the realistic feeling, Infantry consulted several military experts. Infantry stated they were inspired by both Infinite Warfare and Black Ops for making Infinite Ops. The development team described the game as Black Ops in Space. Voice casting The original cast from the TV series Transformers: Prime (Peter Cullen, Frank Welker, Steve Blum, Jeffrey Combs, Ernie Hudson, Josh Keaton, Sumalee Montano, Daran Norris, Nolan North, Kevin Michael Richardson, David Sobolov, Adam Baldwin, Tania Gunadi, Michael Ironside, Andy Pessoa, Markie Post, James Horan, Tony Todd, and Gina Torres) and My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic (Tara Strong, Ashleigh Ball, Andrea Libman, Tabitha St. Germain, Cathy Weseluck, Nicole Oliver, and Kelly Sheridan) reprised their roles. Channing Tatum, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Gregg Berger and Judd Nelson also reprised their roles as Duke, Cobra Commander, Grimlock and Rodimus. Audio Infinite Ops score was composed by Brian Tyler, and Friendship Is Magic songwriter Daniel Ingram. Release Call of Duty: Infinite Ops was released on November 10, 2017, for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One. Downloadable contents Call of Duty: Infinite Ops offers four downloadable content map packs, each containing four regular Multiplayer maps, one Multidriver map, and one Extinction map. On December 19, 2017, Activision released a preview trailer for the first downloadable content pack, Arsenal, containing 4 new multiplayer maps: Portentia, Kludge, Fog Battle and Fairmont (the latter of which is a remake of Gametime in Call of Duty: Zero Day Battle); 1 new Multidriver map: Bloc (the latter of which is a Multidriver map version of Bloc from Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare) and 1 new Extinction map: Arrived. The map pack was released January 30, 2018, first on PlayStation 4, and on March 1, 2018, for Xbox One and Steam. On April 6, 2018, Activision announced the second downloadable content pack, Unison, containing 4 multiplayer maps: Mount Aris, BattleFalcon, Dungon, and Lodge; 1 new Multidriver map: Village (the latter is a Multidriver map version of The Village from Call of Duty: Finest Hour); and 1 new Extinction map: Repel. The map pack was released April 17, 2018, first on PlayStation 4, and on May 17, 2018, for Xbox One and Steam. On June 19, 2018, Activision announced the third downloadable content pack, Tambora, containing 4 multiplayer maps: Paw-Tucket, PT Stadium, LPS Cruise and PetUltimate; 1 new Multidriver map: Operation Ignition; and 3 new Extinction maps: Counter, Resist and Retaliate. The map pack was released June 26, 2018, first on PlayStation 4, and on July 26, 2018, for Xbox One and Steam. On August 23, 2018, Activision announced the fourth and final downloadable content pack, Onyx, containing 3 multiplayer maps: PT Park, Chill-Out Inn, and Energon Refinery; 1 new Multidriver map: Dump and Build; and 1 new Extinction map: Endgame. The map pack was released August 28, 2018, first on PlayStation 4, and on September 27, 2018, for Xbox One and Steam. Reception Pre-release Upon release of the initial trailer, the game was heavily criticized by the community for crossing over with Hasbro. As of August 30, 2018, the trailer has received more than 3.7 million dislikes and is the second most disliked video on YouTube. Despite its pre-release criticism, Infinite Ops was named Best Shooter at E3 by Game Informer. At the 2017 Game Critics Awards for the best of E3, the game was nominated for Best Action Game. Post-release 78/100 (XONE) 75/100 (PC) | Destruct = 7/10 | Edge = 7/10 | EGM = 8.5/10 | GI = 8.75/10 | GameRev = | GSpot = 9/10 | GRadar = | GB = | IGN = 8/10 }}Call of Duty: Infinite Ops received "generally favorable" reviews from critics for the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One, while the PC version received "mixed or average" reviews, according to review aggregator Metacritic. Miguel Concepcion of GameSpot awarded the game a 9/10, writing that the campaign was "moving" and "salutes the brotherhood that grows and strengthens on the space battlefield", while praising the game's "excellent visuals and sound design". IGN s Luke Reilly awarded the game 8/10, saying the campaign was a "Interesting crossover compared to the Kingdom Hearts series". In his 8.5/10 review for EGMNow, Nick Plasses wrote that the campaign's crossover was "well written". Polygon s Russ Frushtick generally praised the campaign, multidriver and Extinction modes, criticized the miltiplayer mode, writing that "just about every mission feels like déjà vu, as if I'd played it before in another game". Jeff Gerstmann of Giant Bomb was more critical of the game as a whole, stating that "despite all of Activision's big talk about "boots on the ground" action and how this was going to be some big deal, the setting change didn't bring any new and exciting inspiration with it. This feels like the most wheel-spinning, by-the-numbers Call of Duty they've made thus far." Eurogamer ranked the game 38th on their list of the "Top 50 Games of 2017", while EGMNow ranked it 20th in their list of the 25 Best Games of 2017. The game was nominated for "Best Shooter", "Best Graphics", and "Best Spectator Game" in IGN's Best of 2017 Awards. Sales Infinite Ops sold 4.9 million copies within 24 hours of release and earned over $500 million within its first three days of release. On December 20, 2017, it was confirmed that the game had generated over $1 billion in revenue, making it the highest-grossing console game of the year in North America. The PlayStation 4 version sold 168,234 copies within its first week on sale in Japan, making it the best-selling game of the week. Accolades References Category:Call of Duty Games Category:Microsoft Windows Games Category:PlayStation 4 Games Category:Xbox One Games Category:Activision Games Category:First-person shooters Category:Infantry Interactive Category:2017 Games Category:Video Games